They pulled out a half dozen gourmet chocolate bars for us. Their group decided to head in at Moose Lake in hopes of running into us. As luck would have it our paths crossed shortly after they entered the Wilderness. After visiting for a few minutes we loaded our newly acquired chocolate bars into Amy’s backpack and headed back to our campsite on Basswood. The snow continued to fall harder and harder as we skied north. Crossing Basswood Lake we were surrounded by white. The shoreline was invisible as we skied through the thick flakes. Our campsite appeared through the falling snow and the prospect of a warm tent and hot meal filled my find, but first we would have to split some firewood and sample some chocolate!
It is uplifting to meet folks like Zack and his friends who share a passion for the Boundary Waters and want to support our efforts. This Wilderness is precious to so many people. It is imperative that we all speak loudly for this quiet place and take action, not once, but many times. All of our hard work and collective actions will help ensure that the Boundary Waters watershed is protected from Twin Metals and other sulfide-ore copper mines that are being proposed along the southern edge of the Wilderness. Twin Metals is prospecting a quarter of a mile from Wilderness Boundary. This type of mining has a long track record of causing significant ground and surface water pollution. In fact, a mine of this type has never been built, operated, and closed anywhere in the world without polluting.
The edge of our nation’s most popular Wilderness and the heart of the water-rich Superior National Forest is not an appropriate place for this type of activity. The Superior National Forest contains 20% of all the freshwater in the National Forest system. Please sign the petition (link in our bio) tell your friends about our #wildernessyear , and take action today. #savetheBWCA #WeAreTheWild #BWCA #BoundaryWaters
